Activities Undertaken in the Member Cities of the Polish National Cittaslow Network in the Area of “Energy and Environmental Policy”

Wioletta Wierzbicka

doi:10.3390/en15041309

Abstract

Cittaslow is a network of small cities which have adopted the assumptions of the “slow city” model and strive towards the improvement of the quality of life for their residents. This is a network of cities which put pro-social and pro-environmental measures in the first place, while ensuring that the unique character of every city is preserved. A city which wishes to join the Cittaslow network must go through the so-called certification process and satisfy a number of criteria classified in seven macro-areas, including the “energy and environmental policy” area. Significantly, after becoming a member of the network, the city is obligated to carry out activities that will enable it to meet the membership criteria to a higher degree, and in particular to satisfy the criteria it has previously failed to meet. Considering the above, the aim of this study has been to evaluate the activities initiated and implemented by the member cities of the Polish Cittaslow network in the sphere of the “energy and environmental policy”. A comparative analysis was made of the results of certification before entering the network and the results of recertification that each city underwent after five years of its membership. The study shows that, even in the first five years following their access to the network, the cities were able to implement many projects dedicated to the protection of environmental, reduced consumption of electricity and use of alternative energy sources as well as improvement in the ecological awareness of city inhabitants. This is reflected by a higher degree to which these cities meet the certification criteria in this field, from 71% to 75%.

Highlights

The international Cittaslow movement was started in 1999, in several Italian cities whose mayors set up the association “Cittaslow—International network of cities where living is good”
The Polish National Cittaslow Network operates under the international network of slow cities
The research on the evaluation of activities undertaken by slow cities in the area of “energy and environmental policy” was carried out for cities belonging to the Polish National Cittaslow Network

Summary

Introduction

The international Cittaslow movement was started in 1999, in several Italian cities whose mayors set up the association “Cittaslow—International network of cities where living is good”. The Polish National Cittaslow Network operates under the international network of slow cities. It has 35 members and is the second largest (after the Italian network) national Cittaslow network in the world [1]. The concept of Cittaslow is based on the philosophy of slowness and defies the excessively fast pace of life observed in the modern world [2,3,4,5,6,7]. The idea of the international Cittaslow movement “is to promote the culture of good, slow life in small towns, as an alternative to the big city rush and progressing globalization. Cities associated in the network strive for sustainable development, which is based on a properly planned urban policy ensuring appropriate relations between economic growth, environmental protection and improvement of the quality of life for residents” [8] (p. 270)

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Discussion

Conclusion